Adjustable garment-retainer.



No. 737,435. PATENTED AUG. 25, 1903.;

E. L. MERRILL.

ADJUSTABLE GARMBNT RETAINER.

APPLIoATIoN FILED SEPT. 1a, 1902.

I0 IODBL.

THE MORRIS PETERS CD. PMOTMIYND., WASHINGTON, n. C'.

No. remise.

UNITED STATES atented August 25, 19055.

EMILY L. MERRILL, oF BOSTON, IIIAssAoIuIsETTs.4

ADJUSTABLE GARM ENTi-RETAINER.

SPECIFICATION forming par; of Letters. Patent No. 737,435, dated August25, Ieo. pplioation iled September 13, 1902. Serial No. 123,270. (Nomodel.)

to provide a simple device of this character which may be adjustablyconnected with one of the clasp members of corsets, so that the positionrelativelyT to the corsets Inay be va`- ried up or down.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of thischaracter which will strengthen the corset-clasp at the waistcurvetheroof. To these ends the invention consists in the improvementswhich I will now proceed` to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents one of my improvedgarment-retainers in position for use. Fig. 2 represents a detailelevation of a portion of the two members of a corset-clasp with one ofmy retainers applied to the left-hand member of the clasp. Fig. 3represents a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. d represents a sectionon line 4 4 of Fig'. 2. Fig. 5 represents a perspective view of one ofmy improved retainers. Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showingadoubled form of my improved retainer." Fig. 7 represents an enlargeddetail on line 7 7 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 represents a perspective view ofthe doubled form shown in Fig. 7.

The same reference characters indicate the saine parts in all theiigures.

The adjustable retainer (shown in Figs. 2 to 5, inclusive) comprises apiece of sheet metal struck up and bent to form a front wall a., havinga curved edge a", and a rear wall l). The said rear wall is slitted toform an integral tongue c, which is bent inward toward the front wall,so as to engage the rear of a corset-clasp, as clearly shown in Figs. 3and 4. The upper edge of the front wall a is formed with an extensionwhich is bent outward and downward to form a hook d, underneath whichthe upper edge of skirt-bands or other nether garments may be passed, sothat said garments will be held depressed at the front, ac-

cording' to the position which the retainer occupies on the corset-claspe. The retainer is readily applied to position by slipping it edgewiseonto one of the members e of the corset-clasp, as 'the left-hand one inthe drawings, the flattened sleeve of the device comprising the frontand rear walls being so shaped as to fit said corset-clasp member.Obviously the retainer may be open along the other edge, however, topermit it to be engaged with the right hand' corset clasp member. Whilethe sleeve is open, as clearly shown in Figs. land 5, to permit it to beapplied to the corsetc1asp, it cannot be readily accidentally removedfrom the corset-clasp member, owing to the curved edge a of the frontwall extending around the edge of ythe clasp member e.4

lt will be readily understood that l may einploy more than one of thehook-sleeves shown and described, one above another, as shown by fulllines in Fig. 6. Vhen two separate devices are employed, they Inay beadjusted relatively to each other, so that different gar- In ents may beheld at different points by means of the hooks d d. I may, however,permanently connect two of the devices to a single strip of steel, sucha strip being indicated at f in Figs. 7 and 8 and being indicated bydotted lines in Fig.' (i. Vhen two of the devices are connected togetherby means o f such a strip as here shown, the tongue c (shown in Fig. 5)may be dispensed with and an equivalent tongue or tongues formed at f inthat portion of the strip f located between the two retainers. In Fig. 8I have represented the devices asconnected with the strip f by means ofrivets extending through the rear 'wall b; but it is to be understoodthat I do not limit myself thereto, as said strip f may be riveted tothe front walls d of the retainers. When two of the devices are applied,as indicated in Fig. 6,different garments may be connected with the twohooks d, this being particularly useful when two garments are to beheldand when the two combined would be too thick to be readily held by asingle hook. Vhen a device such as shown in Fig. 8 is employed, thesteel strip f will serve to strengthen theY corset clasp or steel e,while the resilient character of said strip will permit it to yield foral1 practical purposes. The retainer herein before described is designedfor particular use in connection with a shirt-waist and skirtretainer,such as that which forms the subjectmatter of an application for, patentfiled by me concurrently herewith.

While I have illustrated the device as having but one corset-engagingprong or tongue c, it is to be understood that there maybe two, three,or four of such prongs.

I claiml. A garment-retainer comprising a iiat sleeve open at one edgeto permit it to be applied to a corset-clasp and having ahook eX-tending downwardly from the front wall of the sleeve and having a tongueto bear against the said clasp.

2. A garment-retainer comprising a fiat sleeve consisting of a singlepiece of sheet metal having front and rear walls, said sleeve being openat one edge to permit it to be applied to a corset-clasp, the frontwall. of the sleeve having a hook extending downwardly from its upperedge, means being provided for holding the device in adjusted position.

rality of flat sleeves permanently secured to a resilient strip ofmetal, each of the sleeves being open at one edge and havingskirt-bandengaging hooks, means being provided for holdin g'the devicein adj usted position lengthwise of a corset-clasp.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

EMILY L. MERRILL.

lVitnesses: v

A. W. HARRISON, R. M. PIERsoN.

